


Kindling

by theknightwithinthedamsel



Category: ASTRO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 06:20:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9644174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theknightwithinthedamsel/pseuds/theknightwithinthedamsel
Summary: Written for Astrofantastic’s Aroha Fic’s For Friends! as a Valentine's Day gift.Moonbin realizes he has feelings for Minhyuk, and complications occur.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic in a long time (I posted some rather terrible ones on fanfiction years ago), and since I'm a writer in progress, I greatly appreciate any feedback that you have. Comments are greatly encouraged.

Moonbin comes to the realization while cooking, and he freezes halfway through flipping the strips of beef. He recalls having Minhyuk relaxing on their couch, laughing at whatever program is on the television, while he himself grills their lunch. The peacefulness is broken only when Minhyuk comes up behind him to steal a piece of the meat straight from the tongs. It’s such a common occurrence that Moonbin never bothers to chastise him and always let him get away with the theft. It is at this moment that Moonbin realizes that he never wants this moment to end. Looking back in his childhood, there’s never been a time that Minhyuk wasn’t around, and the idea of him disappearing from him scares Moonbin. The only possible explanation Moonbin can come up with for feeling this way is that this might be because he is in love with Minhyuk.

  
The popping of grease awakes him from his shock. Recoiling from the sharp sting of the burn, he drops the tongs. On the couch, Minhyuk jolts at the jarring clang when the utensil hits the floor, and he shoots to his feet. At the sight of Moonbin bending to pick up the tongs with his hand tucked into his stomach, he reaches Moonbin’s side in an instant. In an effort to help, Minhyuk reaches forward to grab his hand.

  
“Bin, are you alri-”

Moonbin snatches his hand away as if scalded for a second time. Ignoring the hurt he sees in Minhyuk’s eyes, he scrambles to his feet and blindly feels for the wall behind him.  
“I-it’s nothing. I have to… I have to go.”

  
Minhyuk blinks and cocks his head to the side. He opens his mouth to ask what’s wrong, but Moonbin, having finally found the wall, backs away and all but runs out of the room. Minhyuk slumps his shoulders and removes the now slightly charred meat from the heat before returning to the couch. He makes a confused huff before attempting to focus on the television once more, but his thoughts return to the spooked Moonbin of before.

 

Moonbin prides himself on generally being a nice person, but even he cannot pardon his treatment of Minhyuk. He tries to act normal, he really does, but every time they make eye contact, an excuse to avoid Minhyuk’s gaze falls from his lips.

  
“I have to go to the bathroom.”

“I have a load of laundry in the washer to move.”

“I, uh, have to call my mom…”

Eventually Moonbin decides to take a walk to clear his head. Even just fifteen minutes will help him calm down and relax. He knows others can easily control their emotions, but why is it so hard for him? No matter how hard he tries, the hurricane wreaking havoc inside of him cannot be controlled, and he continues to make laps around the neighborhood, not realizing how late it’s becoming.

 

Moonbin returns to a dark house, and he squints in confusion for Minhyuk usually waits up for him before they retire for the night. His chest gives a slight twinge of uneasiness, and he sighs softly before padding towards his room.

A figure rises from the beaten couch, and Moonbin has to fight down a scream when toned arms slam into his bedroom door effectively trapping him. Moonbin stares down at Minhyuk who wears an expression he’s never seen before. His dark eyes flash between indescribable emotions so quickly that Moonbin can’t follow let alone identify them. His downturned mouth is narrowed, and Minhyuk’s eyebrows furrow into into the middle so heavy that it’s almost instinct for Moonbin to reach up and poke at them and warn him that it will stay stuck like that if he’s not careful. It’s only his own uneasiness that stays Moonbin’s hand.

Minhyuk opens his mouth, closes it, and then opens it again only to say, “Why are you avoiding me, Bin?”

Moonbin’s eyes widen slightly before breaking eye contact with Minhyuk to gaze at something irrelevant over the top of Minhyuk’s head.

“I’m not,” He denies while rubbing self-consciously at the hair on his arm.

Minhyuk’s right hand closes into a fist, and his gaze hardens.

“Look at me, Binnie.”

Moonbin’s eyes flash back to Minhyuk’s for a brief second before flitting away again.

“I am.”

Glare growing colder, yet maintaining his composure, Minhyuk takes a step closer to Moonbin, right into his personal space. He notes the tremble of Moonbin’s hands, and softens the tone of his voice.

“ _Really_ look at me, Bin. What’s wrong?”

Moonbin minutely shakes his head and clenches his arm, “It’s nothing.”

“Did I do something?”

Harshly jerking his head to the side, Moonbin grinds out, “It’s not you.”

“What did I say that has you acting like this?” Tilting his head to the side, Minhyuk tries to recall what he might have done to cause Moonbin to change like this, “I can get someone to cover my shift, so I can make your dance recital.”

“Minhyu-” Moonbin starts, but Minhyuk interrupts.

His eyes urging Moonbin to understand, he continues to ramble, unaware of Moonbin’s growing impatience, “I was joking about moving in with Jinwoo, you know that, right?”

Moonbin has had enough. His eyes blazing with irritation, Moonbin grips Minhyuk’s arm to grab his attention before barking out, “Minhyuk! Stop!”

He stares, shocked, at Moonbin’s angry outburst before becoming aggravated himself.

“What is it, Bin? You have to tell me what I did wrong, so I can fix it!”

Moonbin scoffs and finally pushes himself away from his door with surprising speed. His sudden movement causes Minhyuk to drop his arms, and Moonbin shoves at Minhyuk’s shoulders.

“Why is it, Minhyuk, that it’s always about _you_?” Moonbin clenches his jaw and seems to ready himself, “Why can’t it be about _me_ and the fact that I like you a lot?”

Almost as soon as the words drop from his lips, Moonbin seems to want to snatch them back. His rapidly paling face and his unsteady balance betray his chaotic emotions. Minhyuk’s mouth drops open to form a small ‘o’ before tilting his head to gaze at Moonbin with confusion.

“Okay, and??”

Moonbin’s mouth flaps for a moment, and he manages to spit out a choked, “huh?”

Minhyuk’s gaze clears for the first time in the last few hours, and he pats Moonbin on the shoulder.

“You had no idea, did you?” Minhyuk’s small smile and crescent shaped eyes only serve to disarm Moonbin completely, and he continues to flounder with his words, unable to form anything coherent, “Bin, I thought you knew. We’ve basically been a couple for months.”

Minhyuk lets out a low chuckle and brush his hair off of his forehead, “Everyone else assumed we were together as well.”

Finally, Moonbin seems to have recovered enough brain power to shout at Minhyuk.

“WHAT?”

Minhyuk closes his eyes and starts to hum a familiar childhood rhyme, but fails to notice the rage simmering in Moonbin.

“Bin and Minhyuk, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g-”

Moonbin’s shoulders droop, and he whispers a quiet, “stop.”

Opening his eyes slightly, Minhyuk starts to reach for Moonbin, “First comes love, then comes marriage-”

“MINHYUK, _STOP!_ ” Moonbin violently shoves Minhyuk away, and the fire burning in the depths of his eyes causes tears to well up.

The next lyric was thrown from his head as Minhyuk’s eyes widen at the glitter of tears not yet shed in Moonbin’s own eyes. He is dumbstruck because this was not the reaction he was expecting from Moonbin.

“I’m being serious, and you’re making a joke of this?”

Moonbin’s fingers dig into his palms and break skin, a few drops of crimson blood dripping onto the varnished floor. His emotions run rampant inside of him and cause him to lose focus of his surroundings. He doesn’t catch the short exclamation Minhyuk utters. Moonbin grips his hair tightly and digs his blood tinted fingers into his scalp. Dropping his gaze to his feet, Moonbin shudders when he can’t find it in himself to look at Minhyuk anymore.

As much as he feels betrayed, Moonbin won’t have the satisfaction of letting Minhyuk seem him cry. “I trusted you, and you’re making fun of me?” He almost loses control, and his last remark was barely a whisper as his voice cracked, and he screws his eyes shut. He lets out a shaky breath, his bottom lip trembling.

“Dammit, Bin! Would you listen to me?! I like you too!”

Moonbin gasps slightly but is as unmoving as a marble statue. His startled gaze doesn’t lift from the floor, and the harsh grip on his hair doesn’t loosen. And still he doesn’t dare to be hopeful. In denial, he harshly shakes his head a few times before biting down on his lower lip in an attempt to cease the trembling.

Minhyuk lets loose a long exhale and gently catches Moonbin’s hands in his. Entwining their fingers, he carefully pulls them free from his hair and lowers their hands to where Moonbin can see them. Minhyuk pulls him forward so that their foreheads bump against each others.

“You idiot, I’ve liked you for a long time.”

A single tear runs down Moonbin’s cheek to land on their enclosed hands, and Minhyuk pulls Moonbin forward to envelop him in a hug. Moonbin drops his entire body into Minhyuk’s embrace and begins to whimper into his t-shirt. Moonbin can hear Minhyuk’s steady heartbeat and leans his head into Minhyuk’s neck to focus on the familiar sound to ground himself once more.

“Minhyuk, why didn’t you tell me sooner? I thought I was the only one who felt like this.” He mumbles into Minhyuk’s neck.

Minhyuk only lets out a sharp bout of laughter and pulls Moonbin closer to him.

“Bin,” Minhyuk starts slowly, “I kind of already thought we were dating…”

“WHAT?”

Moonbin lifts his head right as Minhyuk attempts to look down at him, and they collide with a solid crack of head against chin. They withdraw from the other’s embrace, groaning, to rub at the sore spots. Moonbin uses his free hand to point at Minhyuk.

“You can’t just assume things like that!”

Minhyuk gestures wildly with his arms and shoots back, “After seeing us, anyone possessing simple logic would’ve assumed we were!”

“Are you calling me an idiot!” Moonbin’s anger is rekindled, and he stands up straighter to tower over Minhyuk.  
Minhyuk eyes flash with irritation at the cheap height shot Moonbin is playing. He crosses his arms and jerks his chin at Moonbin.

“Maybe I am.”

Both boys glare at one another, each one unrelenting in their postures. After a moment, almost as one, they begin to relax and laughter fills the hallway. The tears in Moonbin’s eyes are overflowing and seem to have no end in sight. He frantically brushes them away, but they refuse to cease falling. Minhyuk leans up to place a chaste kiss on Moonbin’s cheek and is pleased to see a deep blush forming. He entwines their fingers once more and tugs Moonbin back into the living room to sit on the couch with him. He rubs soft, calming circles into his palms, and slowly but surely Moonbin corrals his emotions into something he can manage.

Pulling Moonbin closer to lean against his side, Minhyuk turns to look at him. He hesitates, then quietly asks, “Hey, Bin?”

Head drooping slightly from exhaustion, Moonbin mutters, “Hm?”

Unbeknownst to Moonbin, Minhyuk has a devilish smirk on his face, “Just to make sure…”

“What is it?” Moonbin is nodding off and doesn’t notice Minhyuk’s smile growing.

Leaning closer than before, Minhyuk brushes his lips against Moonbin’s ear and murmurs, “You do know we’re dating now, right?”

Moonbin snatches a cushion from the couch and smacks Minhyuk upside the head with it. Minhyuk only laughs and dramatically falls off the couch. Peering at him groaning on the floor, Moonbin finds himself grinning, the wide smile lighting up his face.

“Yeah, I do.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I'm an English major, and I'm thinking about majoring in Creative Writing as well, so if you have any prompts for me, I'm 100% willing to attempt to write a story from it. It can also be from any fandom, but I will let you know if I don't know them since it would be hard for me to write something on characters/people I don't know.


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